Two more Holeby generating sets off-loaded

The two new Holeby gensets that arrived Saturday 9th October after being off-loaded

ST. KITTS, OCTOBER 12, 2010 (CUOPM) -Two more Holeby generating sets expected to provide a more reliable electricity supply were off-loaded at the Deep Water Port on Saturday.

The two sets bring to four, the number of new electricity generators purchased by the St. Kitts Electricity Department in the last three months under its improvement programme.

The two 4.0MW Holeby gensets from MAN Diesel arrived on board the Antigua-registered BBC EMS on Friday and were offloaded by Saturday afternoon.

The radiators have been shipped from Europe and the building enclosures are due to be shipped next week. The diesel modules are due to be shipped on Monday 11th October.

The two sets that arrived here in August are expected to be commissioned by the end of this month. The sets that arrived Saturday are expected to be commissioned by February next year.

Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Public Utilities said the first two generators that arrived in August were purchased at a cost of US$10,828,000 and the two that arrived Saturday were bought at a cost of US$11,031,000. He said the total cost of the four gensets is US$22,031,000.

Superintendent at the Needsmust Power Plant Mr. Kevin Bennett said last week that the finishing work is being carried out on the two 4.0MW Holeby gensets that arrived in August.

The two Holeby gensets that arrived in August will soon be commissioned at the end of October 2010

The engines and alternators and the radiators have already been installed. The building enclosures have already been constructed. The tank farm has already been built. The change over modules, booster modules and ring main for the fuel have already been assembled.

The compressors, the MCC (Motor Control Center) panels and the generator control panels have already been installed,” Mr. Bennett said.

An Electrical Commissioning Engineer is on island to commission all the electrical components. Another electrical engineer and third engineer are commissioning the Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO) and Diesel modules and centrifuges.

The MAN commissioning Engineer arrives on October 11th and will be responsible for the commissioning of the engines.

Two more generators are expected to arrive here shortly and are expected to be commissioned by February next year. The four gensets were purchased at a cost of US$22 million.

In 2008, the largest engine at the Needsmust Power Plant, a 7.6 MW set, was damaged by fire and two Caterpillars sets purchased between 1989 and 1995 had to be removed from service due to their long history of failures and problems, poor fuel efficiency and extreme unreliability.

Between 2007 and 2011 the Ministry of Public Utilities would have procured a total of seven (7) 4.0MW Holeby engines costing approximately US$38.2 million.